Witch

Miracles do happen. Sometimes you might think these miracles are nothing special, but that doesn’t make them any less miraculous. An Imperium lord can fall in love with a simple peasant girl. And even marry her. They can live in peace and harmony and give birth to a darling little girl whom everyone loves. Verenea was lucky. This is exactly what happened to her parents. The little girl grew up beloved by everyone. And, even though the neighboring lords were none too happy, after a while even they made their peace with their neighbor's eccentricities. Her father taught her how to make all sorts of devices, and her mother did her best to guide her in the ways of womanhood and teach her simple, practical wisdom.

The day of her sixteenth birthday was promising to be a very happy one. Verenea had finally managed to finish her first solo project: the Breeze-Rider's Omni-Operational Mount (B.R.O.O.M.). Her father had a good, long chuckle over the invention's name, but he was proud of his daughter nonetheless. Her mother just smiled and gave her a kitten for her birthday. A little black ball of fluff. Everything was just perfect.

Miracles do happen. Sometimes these miracles are so horrific that you wish they had never happened in the first place. That same day, the lord went down into a secret dungeon in order to resurrect a hero who had fallen in a battle with the Touched. The experienced, wise lord had performed numerous resurrections before, but this time he has made one small mistake.

The explosion of the Prime Inductor was truly terrible. The castle crumbled like a house of cards. Turquoise flames rushed towards the skies and fell back down, leaving nothing but a smoking crater behind. When Verenea came to her senses, she was surrounded by nothing but debris. It felt like her entire body was on fire, and the turquoise puddles of death around her were saturating the air with poisonous vapors. The deadly silence was interrupted only by the cawing of crows, the whistle of the wind, and a quiet, plaintive meowing from underneath a nearby stone slab. Stunned, not fully aware of what was going on, she grabbed her B.R.O.O.M., which happened to be nearby, slid its end under the slate, and pushed on it as hard as she could. The slab gave way. Underneath it was her tiny kitten Snowball. His spine had been broken, and he was covered with severe prime burns. The cat did not have long to live. As if in a daze, Verenea gently took the tiny kitten in her arms and used the last of her strength to activate the B.R.O.O.M.; then she lost consciousness...

Lord Hagen, whose lands bordered those of Verenea’s father, was alerted by the noise. People were running away from the forest, yelling “Witch! Witch!” The locals were petrified. It was an odd sight indeed. A futuristic-looking broomstick was flying low to the ground from the direction of the forest. On top of it lay a beautiful maiden, unconscious and covered in horrific wounds. The girl somehow remained on the device without falling off. Even more unusual was the strange-looking creature with the head of a cat and a body made entirely of smoke. It circled around the girl and seemed to be calling for help. Whoever they were, they clearly needed help.

The locals were able to nurse the girl back to health. The explosion had saturated her entire body with prime, transforming her into a hero. And her act of kindness during her last moments was rewarded with a loyal and eternal friend. Even after death, Snowball remained loyal to his mistress and was reborn as her Familiar. Miracles do happen. Sometimes these miracles seem unbelievable, but that doesn’t make them any less wonderful. Verenea the Witch knew this better than anyone else. That's why she wasn't especially surprised to hear that other heroines like herself had begun appearing in the holdings of other lords. She just smiled mysteriously, sat on her broomstick (which had been significantly upgraded by Imperium scientists) and flew off to meet her new “sisters,” leaving a trail of smoke behind her.

Talents

Curse of the Witch

Enemies damaged by the hero's attacks and class talents take extra damage for the next few seconds. Attacks on cursed targets from Native Terrain steal Energy from the target (based on Strength or Intellect, whichever is greater).

Familiar

The familiar attacks the selected enemy, then proceeds to the next closest enemy, and so on. Enemies attacked by the Familiar take physical damage for several seconds. If there are no enemies in the vicinity of the target, or if the talent is used against the caster herself, the familiar returns to the hero. Once the character acquires the Insatiable Curiosity talent, the familiar becomes able to inflict additional physical damage over time, provide increased visibility, and fly further away from the hero.

Turbomagic

The hero’s speed increases for several seconds, and she becomes immune to control effects. Using the talent again within a short period of time costs more Energy than it did the first time. Once the Witch acquires the Trail of Horror talent, whenever she uses the Turbomagic talent (which costs the same as before), she briefly leaves a trail behind her that causes enemies who enter it to panic for several seconds.

Energy Emission

While the talent is active, the hero’s attacks deal additional physical damage and consume Energy. Once the character acquires the Beyond the Pale talent, each attack increases the hero’s Agility for several seconds (based on Intellect). The effect is cumulative when used multiple times.

Curse of Fragility

The amount of damage inflicted on the target enemy is increased based on his or her current and maximum health until the total additional damage reaches a particular value (equal to Strength or Intellect, whichever is greater). Once the character acquires the Horrible Curse talent, the target of Curse of Fragility will panic for several seconds and take even more damage.